Easter 2026: The Countdown to the Resurrection — easter 2026 begins with Kathara Deftera
easter 2026 launches with Kathara Deftera (Clean Monday) at dawn on February 23, 2026, marking the end of Apokries and the start of Sarakosti, the Great Lent that prepares the soul and body for Holy Week of the Passion. The calendar split matters this year: the Catholic world will observe Easter on April 5, while the Greek Orthodox Church will celebrate Pascha on April 12.
Kathara Deftera on February 23: kites, lagana and the start of Sarakosti
Clean Monday—Kathara Deftera—on February 23 begins the period known as Sarakosti, literally "The Forty Days, " a fast that the tradition notes actually spans 48 days when Holy Week is included. The day is framed as purification after Apokries (Carnival): families fly kites and eat lagana, the unleavened bread, along with seafood, leaving behind the indulgence of Carnival season as they begin the journey of internal renewal.
Fasting rules and the rhythm of the first five weeks, including the Akathist Hymn on April 3
Sarakosti is described as a time of "bright sadness, " when the faithful refrain from meat, dairy, and fish—though the context specifies there are particular exceptions such as Palm Sunday. Throughout the first five weeks of Lent, Friday evenings are dedicated to the Virgin Mary through the Akathist Hymn; on April 3 the entire Akathist Hymn is sung. The resurrection of Lazarus in Bethany is observed as a "prophecy in action, " a foreshadowing of Christ’s own victory over death, and Palm Sunday is noted for churches adorned with palm fronds and a brief break in the strict fast with a traditional fish dinner.
Holy Week schedule and Easter 2026 services: April 9–12
The context calls Holy Week the most intense week of the ecclesiastical year, when the final days of Jesus are recounted in services. Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday focus on the parables of the Ten Virgins and the need for spiritual wakefulness. Holy Wednesday brings the Service of the Holy Unction, during which the faithful are anointed for the healing of soul and body. Holy Thursday, on April 9, features the service of the Twelve Gospels and the placing of the "Crucified One" in the center of the church amid deep mourning.
On Holy Friday, April 10, total mourning is observed: bells toll slowly while the Epitaphios, the symbolic tomb of Christ, is adorned with flowers and marched through the streets in a funeral-like procession. Holy Saturday, April 11, holds the "First Resurrection" service in the morning and leads into the midnight Anastasis. At midnight the "Holy Light" is passed from person to person, and the joyful cry of "Christos Anesti" (Christ is Risen) echoes across Greece. Easter Sunday—Pascha—on April 12 culminates the observance with families gathering for the traditional roasting of the lamb and the cracking of red-dyed eggs to celebrate the Resurrection as the ultimate victory of life over death.
"Dwelling in Dissonance": Talashia Keim Yoder’s Lent at Home 2026 worship guide
Talashia Keim Yoder is the writer of the 2026 Lent at Home worship guide, titled "Dwelling in Dissonance. " She reflects on how intentional family Lenten practices help households "dwell in dissonance"—to embrace the tension of a broken yet joy-filled world—and invites families to deepen their walk with Jesus. Yoder lives in Goshen, Indiana, with her husband and two children and serves as a pastor at College Mennonite Church in Goshen. She is also the writer behind the Advent at Home and Lent at Home worship guides and is identified as the content provider for buildingfaithfamily.
Family Lenten practices: from Ash Wednesday pancakes to a one-set dish fast
Yoder’s account traces childhood memories of Lent that center on Ash Wednesday: her congregation would eat sausage and pancakes, then process upstairs for an Ash Wednesday service, and members were often encouraged to give something up for Lent—she remembers giving up chocolate and making it to Easter only once. As a freshman at Hesston College in Kansas, a classmate named Kristin gave up a curling iron for Lent and the next year gave up forks—examples Yoder cites of fasts chosen to remove barriers, slow down, be grateful and listen.
When her own children were small, rituals became more important. Yoder says Lent was framed as a penitential season in which her family confessed their humanity and asked Jesus to help them be their best human selves. They experimented with candle rituals—one of which is included in this year’s Lent at Home resource—and Yoder created an Anabaptist version of a Lenten calendar inspired by Traci Smith; that calendar became part of the Lent at Home worship guide. The calendar’s prompts led families into scripture, activities and conversations; the family often missed days but treated the prompts as ideas rather than assignments.
As her children grew, the family revisited fasting with a practical question: "What will clear the clutter and simplify our lives so that we can be our best human selves and come home to God and each other?" Yoder names her favorite Lenten year when her children were 7 and 10: each person used one set of silverware, one plate, one bowl, one cup and one mug for the whole season of Lent (except Sundays), and each was responsible for washing their own dishes so they would be ready for the next meal. That simple fast taught the family about "enough, " slowed their pace and turned every meal into a reminder of the confessional season. Yoder writes that each year of Lent reveals something else about the human–divine relationship.
Noting an unrelated technical entry: Vercel Security Checkpoint
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